mercredi 10 juin 2015

French prime minister under fire for taking business aircraft to be at the Champions League final

The French prime minister Manuel Valls came under fire on Tuesday for taking a government Falcon jet to watch the UEFA Champions League footbll finals over the weekend in Berlin, accompanied by his two sons.
The trip at taxpayers’ expense has triggered outrage in France, and opposition politicians have demanded Valls apologise and reimburse cost of the trip estimated at €20,000.

Although his son’s presence in the plane adds nothing to the cost of the flight, it is bring said that they did not pay for their match tickets, which cost up to €390 each.

He defended himself by saying he was on an official trip to meet the Uefa president, Michel Platini, to discuss the Euro 2016 championship which France will host and to meet officials of European football body Uefa.

But no one seems to believe him knowing he is a big fan of Barca especially since he was born in Barcelona in 1962.

During a news conference on Wednesday in Paris which marked the first EURO 2016 ticket sales, Michel Platini said that the socialist prime minister had come to watch Barcelona play at his invitation. "I told Mr Valls that if Barcelona reached the final, I would invite him ... I kept my word."